Perspective

Mary and I were both using the bathroom mirror this morning to finish getting ready. She was checking her eye makeup and I was trying to get my hair done.

"It won't lay down on top," I complained as I took the hair clip out yet again.

"First world problems," Mary said.

She turned and left the room.

Wow.

I Love You All the Same

But differently.

If you're a parent, you know what I mean.

My son? Is my heart. The girls are more cynical than us. They tease us even. And it most frequently shows up in reactions to movies.

I took them to see Amadeus last year. Anna exclaimed about the costumes and sets. Mary wanted to talk about Salieri's plot to kill Mozart. "He killed him with his mind!" she crowed. Frank? Frank was sobbing. He could not walk. We sat on a bench in the hallway of the theater until he could pull himself together enough to walk to the car. "They just threw him in the ground?!" He could not get over the ending.

This year I took Mary and Frank to see "Midnight in Paris" - their first Woody Allen movie. He's been a favorite of mine since high school. I even performed one of his plays in speech for a dramatic interpretation. To my delight, Mary and Frank loved the movie. If you have been around us in the last few months we have bought the movie for you, told you about it, or simply forced you to listen to us as we recite the dialogue from the movie. We love, love, love it.

Last night the kids and I filled out Oscar Ballots. Rather than pick what would win that might not be what he wanted to win, Frank picked every opportunity he could for "Midnight in Paris" to win. He was disappointed that Woody Allen wasn't at the Oscars to accept his Best Original Screenplay award. He was genuinely disappointed that the movie only won one Oscar.

He and I have the same heart. Or at least the same taste in movies.

And the Winners Are

We're filling out ballots and making tuxedo strawberries at our house. What are your Oscar party plans?

Best Picture - It will go to "The Artist." Mary loved it, I liked it, and Frank hated it. Frank said, "The problem with The Artist is that it is a silent movie but it doesn't look like a silent movie." Exactly. There were some brilliant moments. My favorite was when The Artist sits at his makeup table and suddenly everything is making noise - the makeup brushes get knocked over and clatter, his foot steps click, the chair squeaks, the door opens. The other brilliant moment was when he was sitting alone in his apartment watching "Zorro." (I had the treat of seeing Zorro on a big screen last fall. It was accompanied by an organist - really brilliant.) I loved "The Descendants" but I thought the voice overs were too heavy and not needed. "Midnight in Paris" is perfect as far as I am concerned. My issues with "The Help" are complicated, but I don't like it. "Moneyball" was fun, but not Best Picture worthy. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was a pleasant surprise to me. I don't think I have ever NOT-hated a Tom Hanks movie. Or a Sandra Bollack movie. I would not have seen the movie for those two reasons alone, but it was nominated and I felt obliged and I ended up liking the movie. Not Best-Picture Worthy, though.

Best Director - The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius - Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood. And they love directors that love other directors.

Best Actor - George Clooney, "The Descendants - This is one of those instances when I get to love the win. I think Clooney was the best he's ever been in this movie. Could also go to Jean Dujardin which Hollywood would think was really cute. (A silent film actor winning an Oscar in 2012! We're so clever!)

Best Actress - Viola Davis for "The Help" - Yes, I think she'll beat Meryl Streep. (Hint: Hollywood hates bad movies even if the actors in them are really good.) FWIW, I did not like this movie, but I think Ms. Davis did an amazing acting job. I particularly like it when actors convey internal conflict without simply looking distressed - this was more complex than that. I like acting from behind and silent acting, which she does very well (this isn't a silent film, but "The Artist" is, 2012 is a complicated year...).

Best Original Screenplay - Woody Allen (LOVE HIM!) - Hollywood loves him and this script was clever and funny and well done. "Midnight in Paris" is a family favorite, and I think that a lot of that is owed to Woody Allen's writing. We listen to this in the minivan even when we aren't watching the movie - we love the dialogue that much. I think Hollywood does as well.

Best Adapted Screenplay - I'm going to go with "The Descendants" even though I would pick "Moneyball." I think that Hollywood is going to give this to "The Descendants" as their consolation prize for not winning best picture.

Best Cinematography - This will go to "Tree of Life." I would say that even if you didn't understand it, you have to admit that it is pretty. Sophia and Claire had no patience for this movie. Bill and I enjoyed it, but I did not love it.

Costuming - I saw "The Artist" last night and I had to check my Oscar ballot when I got home to see whether this was nominated. It was and it will probably win and I think that is odd. As someone who watches a lot of silent movies and old movies I can only tell you that the costuming is "off." It is the women's dresses in particular. I don't know enough about costuming to tell you what is wrong, but I think it is the fabric choice for the women's dresses? I would guess that it is a more modern fabric than was available in the 20s. The problem is that because of all the films I have seen from this time period I know EXACTLY what the dresses should look like. An Elizabethen dress? Not so much.

Music-wise I like "Man or Muppet" (!!!!!!) and "The Artist" score.

I'd like to thank the Academy!

Context

Frank and I were listening to Hillary Clinton talking about the Greek financial crisis on the radio.

"Is Hillary Clinton related to President Clinton?" he asked.

I paused as I felt the gap in his knowledge - knowing who both President Clinton and Secretary of State Clinton are, but not knowing their connection.

"They're married," I said.

"Oh," he said. "That makes sense." And then he put his plate in the sink and went to get his backpack.

I wonder sometimes about gaps like these and what other gaps there are in his knowledge.

Anna once thought that William Shatner was a singer and was surprised to learn that he was also an actor. Claire once expressed surprise that Yoko Ono's husband was also a musician and singer.

Parenting is serious hands on stuff. You have to be alert at all times to fill in the gaps.

Lost Memory of Skin - book review

An empathetic sex offender. Yes. Really.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. The characters are beautifully written - very visual. And they are portrayed as lovable human beings. There are some serious issues discussed here in a way that really makes you think about our contradictory messages about sex. One of the best examples of this was a Gap Kids commercial filmed on the beach - half-naked children sensually moving in fog while adults film them and their parents stand on the set watching. As a society we are weird and getting weirder.

On a personal level it reminds me of my clients that I meet that are unable to stay at the shelter due to their sex offender status (there is a huge range of what this means) or their pets (I would say pets and alcohol - both banned from the shelter - are the main reasons my clients live under the bridge or in their van).

We all do idiotic things and make stupid choices. Some of us get caught and have to wear ankle monitors and live under a bridge.

This was the first Russell Banks novel I have read. I am going to look for more.

Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings - book review

It's a joke in my family that reading cookbooks is an eating disorder. This cookbook is part essay collection and part recipe book, so you really can read it.

The author is the Tassajara Bread Book author, which reminds me of my mom's fragrant whole wheat bread rising on the counter on a weekend afternoon. The recipes in this book are for meals and highlight different aspects of cooking or eating which he writes about.

As a mom I often feel unappreciated when I clean and cook. I appreciated the calm approach to cooking described in this book. When it's time to wash the rice, wash the rice. When it's time to cut the carrots, cut the carrots. Find happiness and peace in meal preparation and offer it with your whole heart.

Leave

I had outpatient surgery, which means that I had surgery at the hospital and recovered at home. The cat noticed that the dog went away (to Camp Bow Wow) and he got to stay home and I was home laying on the couch with him. The kids went to stay with their dad. Paco the Cat logic: I made major life changes (quit my job and got rid of the dog and kids) to hang out with the cat.

The dog came home, the kids will be home tomorrow, I am cleared to do things like walk the dog and cook. I still need naps. And so the cat hangs onto his delusion.

I've been painting while I lay on the couch watching Law & Order ad infinitum. You might get a watercolor recipe mail. If you want a note and I don't have your actual address, email it to me.

The Leftovers - book review

Great book! It's both funny and heartbreaking. The story take place after The Rapture, which seems sort of random - Muslims, Jews, Atheists, sinful Christians - there is no rhyme or reason as to who is raptured up. Those who are leftover are left to mourn those who left and try to figure out how to go on from here. I highly reccommend this book.

Location, Location, Location.

When I was 4 my mom took me to see the Denver Ballet perform The Nutcracker. My family didn't have a lot of money, but my mom splurged and got good seats because she wanted me to be able to see the dancers. When we got to the ballet we walked in and started towards our seats and when we got to our awesome, close seats, there was a harp in front of us and I couldn't see the stage anyway.

I don't remember any of this. I remember riding home from the ballet in my mom's friend's car and listening to them talk about this. And my mom has told me the whole story from her perspective. It has a bit of family lore to it.

I take my children's performing arts education seriously and I spend money to make sure they get a variety of live experiences. We go to Jazz on the Green, Shakespeare, plays, musicals, opera, etc. I try to find ways to get the best seats possible. So for Shakespeare, for example, I go on my alumni picnic day so that we get reserved seats right in front of the stage. I took them to see the Mozart opera "The Marriage of Figaro" a few years ago and we sat on the Main Floor (which was a first for me) because I bought the tickets on Mozart's birthday when they were running a special. My trick for the Lied, which is where we see touring Broadway shows, is to wait until opening night and pick up what are called "house seat" tickets. These are tickets that were reserved but are not being used. This is not for the faint of heart. You are taking a risk. Sometimes you you don't get a ticket at all, but sometimes you end up with 4th row center seats for a sold out "Avenue Q" and sometimes you're 6th row center for "Spamalot" and sometimes you're in the balcony for "Mama Mia."

I checked with the box office several times that day and yes, it was not going to get better than Right Balcony. "They're good tickets," the kid at the box office assured me. I tried to assure my kids of that, by by this point they have expectations for seating that I could not meet last night.

"The balcony?!" my daughter said incredulously.

"All the way up there?!" my son said.

So we made our way to our seats with the Riff Raff (and learned that the coat check in the balcony is Self Serve and no one expects a tip). Live theater is amazing, even from the balcony. We laughed and sang along (my son knows ALL the words to all the Abba songs). The kids got t-shirts and I got a Mama Mia mug.

There was a line to even get on the elevator at the parking garage much less get out. We were parked on the top level, so we went out for frozen yogurt and then afterwards we had no waiting for the elevator or parking garage exit. The top level was empty and the sky opened above us and the City of Lincoln was lit up below us.

"We don't wait in line for an elevator so we can wait in line in our car," Mary said with a goofy-haughty voice.

"You are a Dancing Queen..." sang Frank as he did some dance moves while his sister joined him.

I had the best seats in the house.